UK Provinces started the year by building on their 2014 performance, with a double-digit increase in gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR), however, London hotels posted bottom line declines despite positive movements for January in top-line performance metrics, according to the latest data from HotStats.

East Midlands was one of the leading regions driving the UK Provinces performance in January, with increases recorded in occupancy of 4.6 percentage points to 55.3% and in average room rate (ARR) of 5.8% to £63.97, leading to a rooms revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth of 15.4% to £35.36. A general positive performance was recorded in ancillary departments and as a result, total revenue per available room (TRevPAR) levels surged by 10.1%.

Hoteliers also managed to reduce payroll by 2.2 percentage points to 38.0% to deliver a departmental operating profit per available room (DOPPAR) growth of 18.0% compared to the same period last year. Despite overheads per available room climbing by 7.2%, GOPPAR shot up by 51.3% representing a gross operating conversion of 15.5% for the month.

Aberdeen profits follow oil price drop

In January, Aberdeen hotels registered negative year-on-year comparisons across all key performance indicators with the exception of ARR (+2.1%), according to the latest data from HotStats. 

With occupancy levels declining by 3.0 percentage points, rooms revenue per available room (RevPAR) dropped by 2.7% to £63.74. A closer look into the rooms department shows an 18.3% increase to £7.68 in travel agent commission per occupied room compared to the same period last year.

Mixed performances were recorded in non-rooms revenues leading to a TRevPAR decrease of 1.8% and DOPPAR went down by 6.4% to £53.76. These results coupled with increases in overheads and payroll of 1.6% and 2.2 percentage points respectively, contributed to a GOPPAR decline of 12.0% to £29.80 representing a gross operating conversion of 33.4% for the month.

Glad all over Liverpool

Liverpool hoteliers on the contrary managed to register more positive movements for the month of January, with TRevPAR and GOPPAR increasing by 4.9% and 20.2% respectively, according to the latest data from HotStats.

Hotels in the city experienced a rise of 4.2 percentage points in occupancy albeit at the expense of ARR, which declined by 3.8%, and still delivered RevPAR growth of 4.4% to £37.02.

With ancillary revenues showing substantial improvements, TRevPAR increased by 4.9% to £59.72. DOPPAR also rose by 11.4% thanks to efficient operating cost control and payroll decreasing by 0.6 percentage points.

Despite overheads per available room increasing by 8.2%, GOPPAR still shot up by 20.2% to £8.85 representing a gross operating conversion of 14.8% for the month.